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CLAY TRAVIS: How Trump is already narrowing America’s racial divide

Even before he takes the oath of office next week, Donald Trump has already accomplished the most incredible comeback in American political history.

In the space of four years, he’s gone from being universally banned by Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Spotify, Snapchat, Instagram, Shopify, Reddit, Twitch, TikTok and Pinterest to most of these companies donating to his inaugural celebration and their CEOs clamoring for invites to dinner at Mar-a-Lago with him.

Trump’s 2024 election, I predict, will still be written about as an epochal event in American history long after everyone reading this today is long gone.
But that’s for future historians to decide.

For the present, Trump’s done something even more remarkable than engineer a 312 electoral vote landslide comeback that will be talked about for generations. His monumental 2024 presidential win has done something Trump’s most ardent critics never believed was possible – he’s produced the least racially polarized presidential win since before the Civil Rights Movement.

Let me repeat that because it’s such a staggering and monumental achievement – Trump’s 2024 presidential victory is the least racially polarized presidential election win since Lyndon Johnson’s in 1964.

That is, White, Black, Asian and Hispanic voters cast ballots that were less racially divisive than at any moment, nearly, in the lives of anyone reading this column today.

Yep, unless you were born in 1946 or before, you’ve never voted in a presidential election where the races were less divided, where Americans of all colors were more similar in their voting habits.

Zuckerberg has dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago

Not Ronald Reagan in 1984, not Barack Obama in 2008, Trump’s win in 2024 brought the races closer together than any election in 60 years.

Doesn’t it seem like this fact should be everywhere?

Yet, astoundingly, I bet many of you haven’t heard or read any discussion of this at all.

That’s because there is often far more money to be made tearing us apart than celebrating how similar we all are.

Indeed, Trump’s popular vote coalition may be the most remarkable achievement of his entire political career and it offers an incredible moment of optimism for those of us who have grown accustomed to constant rancor and division.

With a surge in Hispanic, Asian and Black support, Trump moved all 50 states red, won all seven battleground states, and drove a stake into the toxic cancer of identity politics, the root cause of so much hate and division in our country, hopefully once and for all.

Trump gains with minority voters in 2024 election amid sweeping GOP victories

How did this happen? How did the man most in the legacy media have spent nine years attacking as America’s own version of Adolf Hitler manage to bring so many different people from so many different racial backgrounds into his coalition?

I think the answer is simple: many people of all races came to see the lies they’d been told by the legacy media. Many of these voters weren’t just voting for Trump, they were specifically voting against the very people who gave us the Charlottesville hoax and the censorship of the truth during COVID. Trump’s win was a statement in support of free speech and the marketplace of ideas.

It was, of course, also an overwhelming rejection of President Biden’s economic policies, of our wide open border, and of a rise in violent crime and lenient treatment for those guilty of violent crime.

As I’ve been saying for some time, this was an EBC election, economy, border and crime.

Everybody, regardless of race, cares about pocketbook issues, the rule of law, and locking up violent criminals.

How else to explain the dramatic growth in Trump voting support? Remember, back in 2016 Trump won the election with 65.8 million votes. By 2024, he would receive 77.3 million votes. So during a nine-year period when the legacy media mercilessly attacked him and claimed he was HItler, Trump gained roughly 12 million votes.

Where did most of these votes come from?

The data tells us – minorities and young men.

Consider, in 2020 – according to the Wall Street Journal, citing AP votecast data – Joe Biden won Black voters by 83 points. By 2024, Kamala beat Trump by just 67 points among Black voters. That’s a net move of 16% of Black voters toward Trump, a seismic shift in a short period of time.

Hispanic voters moved in Trump’s direction in a massive way too.

In 2020, Joe Biden won Hispanic voters by 28 points. By 2024, Kamala’s margin was just 14, a net gain of 14 points for Trump.

Trump has

Since 2020, Asian voters, similarly, according to Edison Research, have moved from voting for Biden by 27 points to voting for Kamala by 15 points in 2024, a net gain of 12 points for Trump. 

In an election where each side often fights for a point or two on the margins, a double-digit increase in Black, Hispanic and Asian voters for Trump is a political earthquake.

And where did many of these gains come from for Trump? With young men ages 18 to 29 who voted for him by a whopping 14 points. That’s a huge victory for Trump by any measure, but it gets even more staggering when you consider that Biden won men 18-29 by 15 points in 2020. So young men moved 29 points toward Trump in just four years.

Putting this into further context, the two most conservative voting groups in America by age in 2024 were men 65 and older and men 18-29 – both of those groups backed Trump by margins of more than 14.

What explains this sudden alignment between older and younger men? Especially since older men tend to be much less racially diverse than younger men?

Support for Trump surges among Hispanics: He treated them as ‘American voters’

It’s simple, young men of all races are overwhelmingly rejecting woke culture and voting in a similar direction across racial lines.

That is, the identity politics era, especially for young men, is over.
They recognize, better than most, the lies they’ve been fed.

Indeed, data suggests young men 14-17 years old, the next age cohort that will be eligible to vote in 2028 are even more conservative than their older brothers. Republicans, if they run a strong campaign in 2028 and deliver on economic promises, stand to increase margins among these voters.  

There’s been much discussion about how this surge in young male support came to happen – a focus on male-focused podcasts and sports, for instance, by the Trump campaign – but less discussion about what it means when it comes to the racial polarization of America, namely it’s all collapsing.

The race baiters who constantly seek to divide us based on the color of our skin are losing in the marketplace of ideas.

The younger voters helped deliver Trump the White House, says Charlie Kirk

Americans of all races are rejecting their arguments and their divisive tactics.
At long last we are moving closer toward Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of a free and equal society that isn’t defined by race.

I could write an entire book on this election’s seismic impact – and maybe, I should, but that’s for the future.

For now, as Trump prepares for his inauguration on Jan. 20, what I’d like for all Americans, regardless of race, to know is that at long last, it has been three generations since the racial divide was less pronounced in American presidential politics.

So as the inauguration nears, I’m incredibly optimistic about what Trump will accomplish for all of us, but even more astounded by what he’s already done – bringing the races closer together than we’ve been in three generations.

That doesn’t mean America’s perfect, but it certainly does suggest that we are continuing to form a more perfect union where all of us can be judged by the content of our character and not by the color of our skin.  

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Israel’s Netanyahu accuses Hamas of trying to back out of cease-fire deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday accused Hamas of backing out of a cease-fire deal to release hostages and bring a pause to more than a year of fighting. 

Netanyahu’s office said Thursday his Cabinet won’t meet to approve the Gaza cease-fire deal until Hamas backs down from what it called a ‘last minute crisis.’

Netanyahu’s office accused Hamas, without elaborating, of trying to go back on part of the agreement in an attempt ‘to extort last minute concessions.’ 

The Israeli Cabinet was set to ratify the deal Thursday.

President Biden joined Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken for a Wednesday news conference announcing that the deal would roll out in three phases. 

Biden said the first phase will last six weeks and ‘includes a full and complete cease-fire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the populated areas of Gaza, and the release of a number of hostages held by Hamas, including women and elderly and the wounded. And I’m proud to say Americans will be part of that hostage release and phase one as well. And the vice president and I cannot wait to welcome them home,’ he said. 

In exchange, Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, Biden said, and Palestinians ‘can also return to their neighborhoods in all areas of Gaza, and a surge of humanitarian assistance into Gaza will begin.’

Fox News Digital’s Efrat Lachter and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

This is a developing story. Check back for updates. 

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Trump’s UN ambassador pick Elise Stefanik could save taxpayers millions if taps Musk-Ramaswamy ‘DOGE’

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-NY., will soon appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to seek confirmation for her role in President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. 

Several former diplomats who spoke to Fox News Digital say that an immediate concern for an incoming U.N. ambassador should be reigning in U.S. expenditures at the world body. Outflows to the organization grew from $11.6 billion in 2020 to $18.1 billion in 2022, when the U.S. covered one-third of the total U.N. budget.

A former senior U.S. diplomat told Fox News Digital on condition of anonymity that, with ‘many different tasks in front of her, [Stefanik] will need to be selective about what she really wants to pursue.’ The diplomat cited chief areas of concern as cronyism and corruption, and employing more Americans at the U.N.

He said the U.N. is ‘an organization that doesn’t align often with U.S. foreign policy,’ which makes it ‘kind of weird to be pouring in all this money,’ and then ‘seeing a lot of anti-American sentiment and support of causes that we take issue with.’

Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust and president of Human Rights Voices, called for Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team, headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, ‘to halt funding for the U.N. that is totally antithetical to American interests. This immediate cost-saver of billions ought to be low-hanging fruit. At the General Assembly, the United States has but one vote of 193 member states and is routinely and overwhelmingly outvoted by an undemocratic, anti-American, and anti-Israel mob on key issues. But as soon as we lose, we turn around and pay for all the lawfare and antisemitic schemes those very same resolutions concoct.’

‘DOGE – for which the money is the matter – should have no such inhibitions when it comes to taxpayer dollars being used to fund dangerous and lethal U.N. output,’ Bayefsky said. ‘The days of the United Nations as a global money-launderer for terrorists and antisemites dressed up as human rights experts and refugees need to stop right now.’ 

A spokesperson for Rep. Stefanik, when asked about her plans for reforming the U.N. if confirmed, told Fox News Digital that ‘Elise Stefanik is deeply honored to earn President Trump’s nomination to serve as United States Ambassador to the United Nations. She looks forward to earning the support of her Senate colleagues and working through the confirmation process. Once confirmed, she stands ready to push for needed reform and advance President Trump’s America first, peace through strength national security agenda on the world stage on day one at the United Nations.’ 

To aid the reform effort, Hugh Dugan, former National Security Council adviser on international organizations and U.S. diplomat at the world body, created DOGE-U.N., which he says mimics the ‘methodology and purpose’ of DOGE. 

While Dugan said that DOGE-U.N. is ‘a standalone resource,’ he explained that he hopes it can be a tool for collaboration and ‘save [DOGE] some of the upfront analytical work’ about which outlays need to be examined more closely.

Dugan is working to ‘identify some practicable early wins’ that show ‘the potential for making the U.N. more efficient and cost-saving.’ This includes reviewing the U.N. procurement manual ‘to avoid corruption and malfeasance’ and ‘make sure that there’s a sense of consequences attached to all procurement matters on behalf of the American taxpayer.’ Dugan said that DOGE-U.N. will also look into ‘where and how the U.N. has been evolving into its own Deep State, and more or less ignoring and overlooking the member states’ desires and will and need for efficiency and accountable resource management.’ 

The U.S. ‘can’t be passive shareholders’ in the U.N., Dugan said. ‘We need to develop better competency in Washington, better guidance, more dedicated resources to these dry matters, because if the U.S. doesn’t show up with these questions and concerns and criticisms, no other country will.’

Though Dugan says that DOGE-U.N. is ‘trying to stick with attacking inefficiencies,’ he said there is the possibility of addressing funding to programs that are ‘impossible to support from a policy point of view.’ To that end, Dugan said that ‘strong accountability’ for the secretary-general’s use of U.S. resources is vital to ensure the U.N. does not ‘play a shell game with our contributions and continue to fund even those things we don’t like.’ 

While U.S. departments have independent inspectors general who search for waste and fraud, Dugan noted that the secretary-general directs the U.N.’s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), which means that the secretary-general can choose whether the findings of U.N. investigations should be ‘publicized or kept quiet.’

Peter Gallo, formerly an investigator with the OIOS, told Fox News Digital that the independent oversight function lacks independent oversight and said that the investigative function should be taken ‘out of the hands of the U.N.’ Gallo said that ‘in the immediate term,’ he would suggest making investigations ‘subject to independent oversight, and every dollar they spent subject to review.’ 

The extent to which employees of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) have been affiliated with terror organizations is especially concerning to Gallo, who says investigations into the issue have been neither transparent nor independent.

Dugan said he believes that stepping back from the organization would be counterintuitive, adding that China is ‘more than willing to swoop in and fill whatever leadership vacuum we don’t fill and they will use that opportunity to promote their own hegemonic ambitions.’

Dugan said he hopes that DOGE-U.N.’s findings will ‘serve the administration’ and ‘help them identify valuations that have been overlooked, and principally to help us create the resource that the world needs so that China cannot abscond with it.’

A recent topic of debate at the U.N. illustrates the divergence of the organization from U.S. interests. 

In January 2024, the U.S. ended contributions to UNRWA until March 2025 after evidence emerged that members of the agency participated in the attacks of Oct. 7, which killed 1,200, including 45 Americans.

In October, the Israeli Knesset banned UNRWA from operating within Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, given mounting evidence of Hamas infiltration in UNRWA.

In December, a resolution came before the Fifth Committee of the U.N. General Assembly, which is responsible for budgetary and financial matters. The resolution suggested that the International Court of Justice create an advisory opinion on Israel’s UNRWA ban, citing Israel’s ‘obligations…to ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies’ and ‘of basic services and humanitarian development assistance.’

The U.S. voted against the resolution. However, on a related vote about funding the estimated $298,900 required to carry out the resolution, the U.S. simply abstained.

When asked about the discrepancy in its votes, a U.S. Department of State spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the U.S. ‘has consistently demonstrated opposition to this request for an advisory opinion, including voting against the relevant General Assembly resolution. The budget is a separate matter.  The role of the U.N. General Assembly’s Fifth Committee is not to second-guess mandates authorized by other U.N. bodies.’ 

Bayefsky told Fox News Digital that the State Department’s comment represents a ‘twisted, indefensible strategy’ by the Biden administration. ‘When it comes to spending our money via the U.N.’s budget committee, allegedly the U.S. role is not to ‘second-guess.”

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Trump AG pick Pam Bondi would ‘make America safe again’ with ‘back to basics’ DOJ approach: former colleague

Former FBI Special Agent Nicole Parker, who worked hand-in-hand with Trump’s pick for attorney general, said Pam Bondi is a ‘woman of integrity’ who, if confirmed, would prosecute fairly and stick to the U.S. Constitution.

Parker told Fox News Digital that she worked with Bondi after the February 2018 Stoneman Douglas massacre in Parkland, Florida, which stole the lives of 17 students. She noted that Bondi’s ‘tender heart’ and boots-on-the-ground attitude assisted the community during the tragic mass shooting.

‘At the time, Pam was serving as the attorney general, and I was an FBI Special Agent assigned to the Violent Crime Squad. And I was responding to that tragic, just absolutely heartbreaking incident, and Pam Bondi made her way down to South Florida as quickly as possible, and she was there for her constituents in this dark moment of need,’ she said.

‘What really inspired and touched me about Pam is that she has a very tender heart, and she has a lot of compassion, and she genuinely cares about the people that she serves,’ Parker said. ‘She has that very fine and delicate balance of being very tough and strong but also having a soul and having compassion and caring for the victims that she’s helping.’

Parker pointed to Bondi’s years of experience as Florida’s top cop, saying that ‘her number one goal is to serve and protect the American people.’

‘Based on her track record in Florida, it’s very obvious to me that she will be tough on crime, and she will make America safe again. And her loyalty, No. 1, is to the Constitution and to the truth,’ she said. ‘And that is what we need in an attorney general. She’s not just about saying what needs to be said to get where she needs to go. No, she is a woman of integrity, and she’s going to stand up for what is true.’

Bondi is a Trump loyalist with close ties to the president-elect and has been by his side since his first term in office. She also represented Trump during his first impeachment, serving as one of his lawyers, and remaining a vocal advocate.

On Wednesday, many of Bondi’s questions surrounded the extent of loyalty she has to the incoming president. Parker spoke of Bondi’s personal integrity and class, which she believes will be marks of her Cabinet role, if confirmed.

‘Based on my personal experience with her, she is a woman of integrity. She is a woman of class. She is brilliant. She is smart. She is kind, and she has compassion, and she genuinely cares,’ she said. ‘And I think she’s doing the right thing for the right reasons. And I think she will do a fantastic job as she always has.’

‘Based on my personal experience with her, she is a woman of integrity. She is a woman of class.’

— Nicole Parker, former FBI special agent

Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Justice promised in her congressional hearing to end the weaponization of the justice system, saying she ‘will not target people’ based on their political affiliation.

‘I think that is the whole problem with the weaponization that we have seen in the last four years and what’s been happening to Donald Trump,’ Bondi said. ‘They targeted Donald Trump. They went after him, actually, starting back in 2016, they targeted his campaign. They have launched countless investigations against him. That will not be the case if I am attorney general. I will not politicize that office. I will not target people simply because of their political affiliation.’

Parker echoed Bondi’s words, telling Fox News Digital that she’s going to ‘stand up for what is right.’

‘I think that’s something, sadly, that’s been lacking recently, especially in this administration,’ she said. ‘I know that for myself, having worked in the FBI, we reported to the Department of Justice and [current Attorney General] Merrick Garland, and it seemed that the goal was more pleasing this current administration. And I was very flabbergasted by some of the Democrats’ questions because they talked about their concern that she might politicize the Department of Justice. And I thought, ‘Where have you been the last four years?’ The Department of Justice has been politicized at a level that I have never seen before, and I’ve been with the FBI for close to 13 years.’

‘We are sick and tired of this two-tier system of justice. Americans just want fairness,’ Parker said. ‘They want Lady Justice to be blind again. And they want an attorney general that’s going to enforce the laws equally and fairly.’

Senators question Pam Bondi on restoring trust in DOJ

Parker said that she believes that, if confirmed, Bondi will prioritize cracking down on human traffickers, violent crime, counterterrorism and illegal drug use plaguing the nation.

‘She is walking in to a situation where, in my opinion, the Justice Department has been focused on many of the wrong priorities for the last several years,’ she said. ‘We need to stop the political charade, and we need to get back to protecting the people.’

‘I think that she has a very clear vision and understanding of what her goals and priorities are,’ Parker said of Bondi. ‘And I think she made it very clear that she’s not there to push people’s political and social agendas like we’ve seen in the past.’

She also noted that state attorneys general ‘crave strong leadership’ and want to see a revival of trust in the top prosecuting agencies.

‘I appreciate that Bondi unequivocally expressed her appreciation for the excellent agents, law enforcement officers who are carrying out their duties with honor and put their lives on the line every day to protect Americans and uphold the Constitution. I worked shoulder to shoulder with some outstanding prosecutors and agents who work tirelessly behind the scenes,’ Parker said. 

‘The rank and file, those doing the heavy lifting, welcome Bondi’s arrival as the next AG,’ she said. ‘They crave strong leadership and anxiously await an AG with a strong track record of holding criminals responsible and who will regain the trust of the American people.’

Bondi said in her opening statement that if confirmed as attorney general, she will return the Justice Department ‘to its core mission of keeping Americans safe and vigorously prosecuting criminals.’

‘That includes getting back to basics: gangs, drugs, terrorists, cartels, our border and our foreign adversaries,’ she said.

Bondi said that, like Trump, she believes the DOJ is on the cusp of a new golden age.

‘Lastly and most importantly, if confirmed, I will fight every day to restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice and each of its components – the partisanship, the weaponization – will be gone. America will have one tier of justice for all,’ she said.

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Jan. 6 committee member says pardons are unnecessary: ‘We didn’t do anything wrong’

Rep. Pete Aguilar, a top Democrat who served on the congressional committee investigating President-elect Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, isn’t expecting any favors from the outgoing commander-in-chief. 

He said he thinks a preemptive pardon from President Joe Biden, protecting him from Trump’s potential retaliation, is unnecessary because the Jan. 6 committee ‘didn’t do anything wrong.’ 

‘I don’t think a pardon is necessary. I stand by the work that we did,’ on the committee, Aguilar told reporters at the Capitol Tuesday.

The California Democrat also said that he has ‘not sought a pardon,’ nor has he spoken to anyone at the White House about one. Fox News Digital reached out to Aguilar to inquire whether he would accept one, if it were granted to him, but did not hear back.   

Lawmakers who served on the House committee investigating Jan. 6 have been split about the importance of a preemptive pardon. Some fear it will set a bad precedent for future presidents and assert that the Constitution’s speech and debate clause provides adequate protection against criminal prosecutions, or civil lawsuits, over their legislative work. Others, meanwhile, have welcomed the idea of a pardon, fearing ‘retribution’ from Trump.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the former Jan. 6 committee investigating Trump, said he spoke with the White House last month about the potential of issuing pardons for lawmakers who served on the committee, and said he would accept a pardon from Biden if it were granted to him.

‘I believe Donald Trump when he says he’s going to inflict retribution on this,’ Thompson said this week. ‘I believe when he says my name and Liz Cheney and the others. I believe him.’

Other than Thompson, no other members of the committee have indicated they will accept a pardon granted to them by Biden. However, they have stopped short of saying whether they would decline one.

‘I’ve not been in touch with the White House. I’ve not sought one,’ Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who served on the committee, said Tuesday. 

‘It would be the wrong precedent to set. I don’t want to see each president hereafter on their way out the door giving out a broad category of pardons,’ Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif, who also served on the committee, said in an interview with CNN earlier this month. Former GOP Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger made the same argument as Schiff, but went a step further, saying that he did not want one.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said during a live event this week hosted by Politico that he wasn’t sure what the right call for Biden was. 

‘Different people have different feelings about the whole pardon thing because there are these outrageous threats that are being leveled against people just for doing their jobs, like Jan. 6 prosecutors at the Department of Justice,’ Raskin said. He added that ‘in a just world’ there would be no need for a pardon because the committee did nothing wrong.

‘I’m glad we’ve got a wise president with wise people around him who will be able to figure that out,’ Raskin said.  

During Biden’s final interview as president with a print publication last week, he indicated that preemptive pardons for Trump’s political foes were still under consideration. Biden also noted in the interview that he had personally urged Trump not to ‘try to settle scores’ when he met with the president-elect at the White House following his November election victory.  

Trump has referred to Thompson and other members on the Jan. 6 committee as ‘thugs’ and ‘creeps.’ During an interview on NBC’s ‘Meet The Press’ last month, Trump accused the members on the committee of destroying evidence, adding that ‘everybody on that committee … should go to jail.’

‘They lied. And what did they do? They deleted and destroyed a whole year and a half worth of testimony. Do you know that I can’t get — I think those people committed a major crime,’ Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker.

On Tuesday, the Justice Department released a 137-page report outlining the details of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Due to Trump’s election victory, prosecutors were forced to drop the case, but the report, according to Smith, shows how Trump allegedly used ‘lies as a weapon to defeat a federal government function foundational to the United States’ democratic process.’

The Jan. 6 committee concluded its work after roughly a year and a half of investigations with a final report that determined Trump played a central role in the events that led to the siege on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and that there was enough evidence for federal prosecutors to convict him. The report included several criminal referrals that the committee ultimately passed on to the Department of Justice. 

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Even world leaders receive scam calls. Just ask Thailand’s prime minister

We are all vulnerable to the rapid spread of phone scams – including, it seems, world leaders. Thailand’s prime minister has revealed she got a call from an AI system, demanding money in the voice of another famous head of government.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra did not reveal who the computer was mimicking, but said she received a message in a voice identical to a well-known leader.

“The voice was very clear, and I recognized it immediately. They first sent a voice clip, saying something like, ‘How are you? I want to work together,’ and so on,” Paetongtarn said.

She said she later missed a call from the same number, then received a voice message which cut to the chase: “They sent another voice message asking for a donation, saying, ‘You are the only country in (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) that hasn’t donated yet,’ emphasizing it. I was taken aback for a moment and realized something was off.”

She said whoever sent the message “probably used AI to take the voice” of the unnamed world leader.

Scams or scam centers are not uncommon in Southeast Asia. In recent years, investigators say transnational crime organizations have exploited technological advances and the civil war in Myanmar to build a billion-dollar industry scamming people across the world.

In January, a Chinese actor flew to Bangkok for what he thought was a casting call for a movie. Instead, he was picked up at the airport and driven to a scam center in Myanmar’s Myawaddy, a notorious cyber-fraud hub across the border from Thailand.

This is also a problem for thousands of ordinary people who are lured to Thailand with the promise of white-collar jobs, before ultimately being trafficked to criminal hubs in Myanmar where they are held against their will and forced to steal millions in cryptocurrency.

While many of the scams currently use phone calls and traditional messaging, there have been warnings that, as AI technology advances in leaps and bounds, millions of people could fall victim to scams using artificial intelligence to clone their voices.

Last year, OpenAI, the maker of generative AI chatbot ChatGPT, unveiled its voice replication tool, Voice Engine, but didn’t make it available to the public at that stage, citing the “potential for synthetic voice misuse.”

Paetongtarn, who began her political career in 2021 as the chief of the Pheu Thai’s party Inclusion and Innovation Advisory Committee, became prime minister in August 2024.

She is the third member in her family’s political dynasty to serve as prime minister following her father and aunt, who served for five and three years respectively.

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India’s Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan out of danger after stabbing at Mumbai home

Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan was out of danger, police said on Thursday, following stab injuries received in a scuffle with an intruder at his home in India’s financial capital of Mumbai for which he was undergoing surgery.

Among the country’s most bankable stars, Khan, 54, is the son of former India cricket captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore.

“He (Khan) is being treated … and is out of danger,” senior police officer Gedam Dixit told Reuters.

Earlier, news agency ANI quoted hospital official Niraj Uttamani as saying, “He is currently undergoing surgery,” and adding, “The extent of the damage will be understood once the surgery is complete.”

A small piece of a foreign body had been identified close to the spine, added Uttamani, the chief operating officer of the hospital where Khan was taken at around 3:30 a.m.

Khan, who has featured in more than 70 films and television series, in some also as producer, lives in an apartment in the western suburb of Bandra, along with his wife Kareena Kapoor Khan, who is also an actor, and their two children.

Representatives of his wife confirmed Khan was undergoing a procedure after the burglary attempt, adding, “The rest of the family is doing fine.”

A female employee at their home was also attacked and was being treated, added police, who have launched an investigation and a search for the perpetrator.

Film stars and opposition leaders called for police to beef up security measures in the city.
“If such high-profile people with … security can be attacked in their homes, what could happen to common citizens?” Clyde Crasto, spokesperson of the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, asked on X.

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies won November elections in the western state of Maharashtra, the capital of which is Mumbai.

Actor and filmmaker Pooja Bhatt also called for a greater police presence in the suburb home to many in the film industry.

“The city, and especially the queen of the suburbs, have never felt so unsafe before,” she said on X, using a popular description for the trendy area.

Reuters has a minority stake in ANI.

This post appeared first on cnn.com
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SAGA Metals Provides In-Depth Summary of Radar Titanium-Vanadium Project on Eve of Drilling

Saga Metals Corp. (‘SAGA’ or the ‘Company’) (TSXV: SAGA) (OTCQB: SAGMF) (FSE: 20H) a North American exploration company focused on critical mineral discovery, is pleased to provide a complete overview of the Radar Titanium-Vanadium (Ti-V) Project as equipment, fuel, diamond drill and personnel begin to arrive in Labrador for the maiden drill program set to commence in a weeks time.

Radar Titanium-Vanadium (Ti-V) Project – Labrador, Canada

The Radar Ti-V Property is located 10km south of Cartwright in Labrador, Canada. The project spans 17,250 hectares and benefits from road access, supporting efficient exploration and development.

Radar’s Hawkeye zone is the most prospective target on the property. Detailed geophysics and surface samples are suggestive of a complex and multi-phased layered mafic intrusion that may be upwards of 1km wide, 4km long and potentially over 600m deep . Recent geophysics completed on the property show very detailed correlation to the rock samples and observed phase changes in the system.

SAGA aims to complete a 1,500m drill program at the Hawkeye zone over the area encompassing the anomalous TiO2 and V2O5 surface samples.

Radar Project Surface Assay Highlights Include:

  • Titanium Dioxide (TiO2): 49 samples returned assay values exceeding 4.0%, with a peak value of 11.1%.
  • Vanadium Pentoxide (V2O5): 36 samples exceeded 0.2%, with a high of 0.63%.
  • Iron (Fe): 34 samples returned values over 20%, reaching a high of 46.7%.

Radar Project Target Zones:

  1. Hawkeye Zone: contains grades up to 11.1% TiO2 and 0.66% V2O5
  2. Trapper Zone: contains grades up to 8% TiO2 and 0.28% V2O5
  3. Unnamed Transitional Zone (between Hawkeye and Trapper): contains grades up to 7.6% TiO2 and 0.302% V2O5

Saga Metals Corp.

Radar Project and corresponding geophysics highlight multiple anomalies across the property

Assay results have confirmed the magnetic anomalies within both the Hawkeye and Trapper zones are mineralized, establishing a combined strike of just over 8km in length between the two zones. Preliminary indications suggest a possible connection between the trends through a transitional zone, which increases the mineralized strike to ~ 9.5km through verified samples.

Maiden Drill Program Q1 2025: Drilling is scheduled to commence this month with a minimum 1,500m program at the Radar Ti-V Projects. The Hawkeye zone is the most advanced zone with both surface samples and detailed geophysics creating clear drill targets. Assays have returned consistent values between 2.5 – 11.1% TiO2 and 0.2 – 0.66% V2O5 , confirming the presence of high-grade titanium & vanadium across a potential 1km wide and 4km long trend further confirmed with geophysics.

Recent Geophysics of the Hawkeye Zone Highlights:

  • Expanded Zone Width: Geophysical surveys suggest the Hawkeye Zone’s potential width has increased from 500m to 1km .
  • Significant Strike Length: Surface sampling and geophysical results infer a 4km mineralized strike length.
  • High-Grade Mineralization: The Hawkeye Zone includes high-grade mineralization, with samples returning 2.5% – 11.1% TiO₂ and 0.2% – 0.66% V₂O₅.
  • Mineralized System Defined: Advanced geophysics and magnetic inversion interpretation clearly outlines the phases of a layered mafic intrusion and mineralization potential over 600m at depth , creating drill-ready targets.

Saga Metals successfully completed a detailed magnetic and electromagnetic (EM) survey over the northwest section of the Hawkeye Zone at the Radar Project. Utilizing ground-based equipment on a tightly spaced grid, with 25 meters between stations and 50-meter line spacing, the survey delivered high-resolution magnetic and conductivity data. This effort has proven highly effective in mapping magnetite-rich zones within the Gabbro Norite host rock, a key indicator of titanium (TiO₂) and vanadium (V₂O₅) mineralization.

The magnetic survey was so successful that the high-resolution imagery combined with sample assays and field observations can be used to map some of the most distinguishing features of the system throughout this zone.

Spanning nearly 1km in width with a near-vertical orientation the Hawkeye zone is the most prospective target on the property with geophysics now defining the phases of a layered mafic intrusion sampled in the 2023-2024 field programs. The results of this survey provide exceptional clarity, combining high-definition imagery with sample assays and field observations to identify distinct geological phases within the Hawkeye Zone. The eastern portion of the zone is characterized by alternating silica-rich (magnetite-depleted) bands and high-grade magnetite layers, with titanium and vanadium grades ranging from 5 to 11% TiO₂ and 0.3 to 0.66% V₂O₅. Moving westward, the system transitions into gabbro norite rocks containing disseminated magnetite. These rocks exhibit consistent but lower grades, averaging 3 to 5% TiO₂ and 0.1 to 0.2% V₂O₅.

SAGA Metals Corp.

Geophysics completed over a targeted area within the Hawkeye Zone increasing width to 1km and a projected 4km strike

Magnetic Inversion Interpretation:

SAGA continued to update its geophysics with the magnetic inversions of the Hawkeye zone. Completed by Chris and David Mark of Geotronics, the magnetic inversions can project, with a high degree of certainty up to 400 meters in depth, what the mineralized magnetic body looks like beneath the surface.

SAGA Metals Corp.

Magnetic inversion of the Hawkeye zone looking north-northeast. Range of > 0.02 susceptibility cut off.

SAGA Metals Corp.

Same magnetic inversion of the Hawkeye zone looking east at profile cross section with > 0.02 susceptibility cut off.

Petrographic Analysis at the Radar Ti-V Project:

Recent petrographic work completed by Dr. Al Miller on rock samples from the Hawkeye zone have increased the understanding of the mineralogical host of titanium and vanadium mineralization at the Radar project. This sets the foundation for the metallurgical work the team hopes to be able to build on during the 2025 drill programs.

First look at the petrography of the Hawkeye zone reveals more than one composition of magnetite; evidence which contributes to the hypothesis of multiphase mineralization events. Additionally, petrographic evidence reveals that much of the titanium and vanadium mineralization occurs within magnetite with a lack of ilmenite in many of the layers. This is key to understanding how these elements are locked up together and ultimately how they’ll separate during extraction. These layers have assayed high TiO2% and V2O5% leading to the use of Vanadium Titanomagnetite (VTM) classification of several mineralized layers of the Hawkeye zone. Ilmenite with exsolution lamellae of the magnetite was observed but only in a few cases. This has contributed to what can be called differential compositional layering and multiple mineralization magmatic layering events.

VTM’s are a mineralization style that has not received much attention in North America but is a pivotal piece of China’s iron, titanium and vanadium mining and production industry.

Trapper Zone Shows Promising Titanium and Vanadium Anomalies Despite Limited Exposure:

The Trapper Zone spans a strike length of ~ 4.3km , slightly longer than the Hawkeye Zone, though it has significantly less surface exposure. The lack of outcrop and subcrop initially posed challenges for the exploration team; however, the implementation of an extensive soil grid successfully yielded the first geochemical confirmation of the Trapper Zone’s correlation with previously identified geophysical anomalies.

Key findings from the Trapper Zone include:

  • Soil anomalies with values ranging from 1.0 – 1.1% Ti and 140 – 190 ppm V .
  • Rock sample anomalies with values between 2.5 – 8% TiO2 and up to 0.28% V2O5 .

Although only 30 rock samples were collected due to limited exposure and ground cover, the consistent anomalies found in both soil and rock samples provide compelling evidence to justify targeted exploration in this zone.

Further work, including additional surface sampling, trenching, and geophysical surveys, is planned to unlock the full potential of the Trapper Zone in 2025.

Transition Zone Presents Key Opportunity for Further Understanding of Radar Ti-V System:

A possible third, transitional zone, located between the Hawkeye and Trapper zones, presents a significant opportunity for further exploration. While its relationship to either zone remains unclear, this transitional area could help determine whether the Hawkeye and Trapper zones are folded limbs of the same system or represent different phases of a multi-phase, complex layered mafic intrusion.

Comparable Projects in the Grenville Geological Province:

SAGA Metals Corp.

A Map of the Grenville Geological Province

The Grenville Geological Province is known for its significant deposits of iron, titanium, vanadium (Fe-Ti-V), and Platinum Group Metals (PGM). A key comparison point is North America’s largest titanium-vanadium project, located at Lac Tio in Quebec, just southwest of SAGA’s Radar Project. Notably, both projects share the same rich geological setting.

Strategic Resources is a Montreal-based development company focused on vanadium, high-purity iron ore and titanium with their BlackRock project located in Quebec west of Lac Tio right on the Grenville Front (as seen in the map above).

Like, the Radar Ti-V project, these projects all have basement rock dated over 1 billion years old, and all share components of the deep-rooted mafic rock of the Grenville Province.

Strategic Resources completed an amended feasibility study 1 on March 26, 2024, on the Southwest deposit hosted within the BlackRock project confirming a proven and probably reserve of 127.8Mt with 0.46% V2O5, 40.2% Fe2O3 and 7.8% TiO2. The Southwest deposit spans 2.5km in length and averaging 110m in mineralized thickness with a projected mine life of 39 years. The projected financial outcome of the mine estimates after-tax cashflows of C$12.055 billion with a 5.4-year payback period including an after-tax net-present-value (8%) of C$1.932 billion and an 18.2% after-tax internal rate of return.

Michael Garagan, CGO & Director of Saga Metals Corp. commented: ‘All the final preparations are underway in Labrador. Equipment and fuel have been shipped and will arrive any day. Core logging and on-site lay down areas are being prepared. Our team, including myself, and the drilling contractors are all set to arrive early next week with our first diamond drill turning shortly thereafter. This project is a testament to our corporate mandate of completing the necessary due diligence and robust investigation to find exploration worthy grass roots projects. Radar has the potential of unlocking value with our first zone; one of potentially multiple zones on our property confirming high-grade mineralization at surface in a 1km by 4km area and potentially over 600m at depth. Needless to say, we are very excited to commence drilling on two projects in Q1.’

About Saga Metals Corp.

Saga Metals Corp. is a North American mining company focused on the exploration and discovery of critical minerals that support the global transition to green energy. The company’s flagship asset, the Double Mer Uranium Project, is located in Labrador, Canada, covering 25,600 hectares. This project features uranium radiometrics that highlight an 18-kilometer east-west trend, with a confirmed 14-kilometer section producing samples as high as 0.4281% U 3 O 8 and spectrometer readings of 22,000cps.

In addition to its uranium focus, SAGA owns the Legacy Lithium Property in Quebec’s Eeyou Istchee James Bay region. This project, developed in partnership with Rio Tinto, has been expanded through the acquisition of the Amirault Lithium Project. Together, these properties cover 65,849 hectares and share significant geological continuity with other major players in the area, including Rio Tinto, Winsome Resources, Azimut Exploration, and Loyal Lithium.

SAGA also holds secondary exploration assets in Labrador, where the company is focused on the discovery of titanium, vanadium, and iron ore. With a portfolio that spans key minerals crucial to the green energy transition, SAGA is strategically positioned to play an essential role in the clean energy future.

For more information, contact:
Saga Metals Corp.
Investor Relations
Tel: +1 (778) 930-1321
Email: info@sagametals.com
www.sagametals.com

Qualified Person

Peter Webster P.Geo. CEO of Mercator Geological Services Limited is an Independent Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information related to the Radar Ti-V Project disclosed in this news release.

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

    Cautionary Disclaimer

    This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as ‘will’, ‘may’, ‘should’, ‘anticipates’, ‘expects’, ‘believes’, and similar expressions or the negative of these words or other comparable terminology. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information pertaining to the Company’s petrographic and geophysics results as well as plans and objectives in respect of the planned drill programs. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s expectations include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, environmental risks, limitations on insurance coverage, risks and uncertainties involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, and the risks detailed in the Company’s final prospectus in Manitoba and amended and restated final prospectus for British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario dated August 30, 2024, filed under its SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca, and in the continuous disclosure filings made by the Company with securities regulations from time to time. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements only as expressly required by applicable law.

    Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6efecc4b-7fc0-41f4-b486-83682baeaab3

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/af8d640a-297d-4eb5-bcd6-2383c75eac39

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8d6edbbb-25d7-4ffd-b52f-476de67ad3e8

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    This post appeared first on investingnews.com
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    UK leader arrives in Ukraine for security talks with Zelensky ahead of Trump’s inauguration

    Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Ukraine Thursday with a pledge to help guarantee the country’s security for a century, days before Donald Trump is sworn in as US president.

    The British government says Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will sign a “100-Year Partnership” treaty in Kyiv, covering areas including defense, science, energy and trade.

    Starmer’s unannounced visit is his first trip to Ukraine since he took office in July. He visited the country in 2023 when he was opposition leader, and has twice held talks with Zelensky in 10 Downing Street since becoming prime minister.

    One of Ukraine’s biggest military backers, the UK has pledged 12.8 billion pounds ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago, and has trained more than 50,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil. Starmer is due to announce another 40 million pounds ($49 million) for Ukraine’s post-war economic recovery.

    But the UK’s role is dwarfed by that of the United States, and there is deep uncertainty over the fate of American support for Ukraine once Trump takes office on January 20. The president-elect has balked at the cost of US aid to Kyiv, says he wants to bring the war to a swift end and is planning to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom he has long expressed admiration.

    Kyiv’s allies have rushed to flood Ukraine with as much support as possible before Trump’s inauguration, with the aim of putting Ukraine in the strongest position possible for any future negotiations to end the war.

    Zelensky has said that in any peace negotiation, Ukraine would need assurances about its future protection from its much bigger neighbor.

    Britain says its 100-year pledge is part of that assurance, and will help ensure Ukraine is “never again vulnerable to the kind of brutality inflicted on it by Russia,” which seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and attempted a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

    The deal commits the two sides to cooperate on defense — especially maritime security against Russian activity in the Batlic Sea, Black Sea and Sea of Azov — and on technology projects including drones, which have become vital weapons for both sides in the war. The treaty also includes a system to help track stolen Ukrainian grain exported by Russia from occupied parts of the country.

    “Putin’s ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure. Instead, we are closer than ever, and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level,” Starmer said ahead of the visit.

    “This is not just about the here and now, it is also about an investment in our two countries for the next century, bringing together technology development, scientific advances and cultural exchanges, and harnessing the phenomenal innovation shown by Ukraine in recent years for generations to come.”

    Zelensky says he and Starmer also will discuss a plan proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron that would see troops from France and other Western countries stationed in Ukraine to oversee a ceasefire agreement.

    Zelensky has said any such proposal should go alongside a timeline for Ukraine to join NATO. The alliance’s 32 member countries say that Ukraine will join one day, but not until after the war. Trump has appeared to sympathize with Putin’s position that Ukraine should not be part of NATO.

    As the grinding war nears the three-year mark, both Russia and Ukraine are pushing for battlefield gains ahead of possible peace talks. Ukraine has started a second offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, where it is struggling to hang onto a chunk of territory it captured last year, and has stepped up drone and missile attacks on weapons sites and fuel depots inside Russia.

    Moscow is slowly taking territory at the cost of high casualties, along the 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) front line in eastern Ukraine and launching intense barrages at Ukraine’s energy system, seeking to deprive Ukrainians of heat and light in the depths of winter. A major Russian ballistic and cruise missile attack on regions across Ukraine on Wednesday, and compelling authorities to shut down the power grid in some areas.

    This post appeared first on cnn.com
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    Voting begins in quake-ravaged Pacific nation of Vanuatu

    Sydney (Reuters) — Voting began on Thursday to elect a new government in Vanuatu, a month after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific island nation’s capital Port Vila, killing at least 16 people, triggering landslides and damaging several major buildings.

    A snap election had to be called after Vanuatu President Nikenike Vurobaravu in November dissolved the parliament following a no-confidence motion against him and Prime Minister Charlot Salwai.

    Vanuatu has experienced 18 months of political instability, with three prime ministers in that time.

    The country’s constitution requires an election within 60 days after the dissolution of parliament. There are more than 300,000 registered voters to elect representatives for 52 seats.

    Official results could be available only after several days as ballots have to be brought to Port Vila from outlying islands.

    Despite widespread damage from the earthquake, Vanuatu’s Principal Electoral Officer Guilain Malessas said the distribution of ballot boxes would be completed by Thursday morning.

    “We are grateful for the good weather conditions currently in Vanuatu. The deployments are proceeding safely and on time,” Malessas told the Vanuatu Daily Post on Wednesday.

    Among the buildings damaged in December’s earthquake was one housing the new U.S. embassy, which only opened last year.

    Washington has been working to boost its diplomatic presence in the Pacific to counter what it sees as a growing threat from China, its main strategic rival.

    This post appeared first on cnn.com
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